Man found dead at Sask. Penitentiary in Prince Albert

The Canadian Press

Updated: December 15, 2016

Federal prisons are not the hotbeds of radical extremism some make them out to be, according to research by the Correctional Service of Canada. The men's maximum security unit of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, Sask., is shown in a Jan. 23, 2001 photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Thomas Porter

Police are investigating the death of a 43-year-old man at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert on Wednesday, the same day a riot broke out at the prison.

The man has been identified by Corrections Canada as Jason Leonard Bird, 43. According to RCMP, Bird was found injured and unresponsive in the medium-security unit by corrections staff at 7:15 p.m. At 7:55 p.m., RCMP received a report of his death. After being discovered by staff, Bird was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead, RCMP said in a news release.

“No arrests have been made in relation to this incident,” RCMP said in a statement.

Bird’s next of kin have been notified. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday or early next week in Saskatoon, according to RCMP.

The RCMP said it is unable to confirm if the man’s death is related to the riot that happened at the prison on Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesman for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers says members have told him a large part of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary at Prince Albert is uninhabitable after a riot and that several inmates were sent to hospital.

James Bloomfield says the prison has been secured after the violence that began early Wednesday afternoon in a medium-security living unit.

Bloomfield says based on information he’s heard from union members at the prison, the damage includes smashed windows everywhere and heat registers that have been pulled off the walls.

He says the trouble began when inmates refused to be locked up as part of their normal routine and then started barricading the entrance to the unit when negotiations with staff broke down.

The union spokesman says about six to seven inmates were sent for treatment, while one correctional officer was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure after exposure to bodily fluids.

There has been no immediate update on the disturbance from the Correctional Service of Canada, but spokesman Jeff Campbell said last night that the prison has been placed in a lockdown and that he did not know if anyone had been injured.

“It was a flat-out riot,” said Bloomfield. “There are serious injuries and several inmates at outside hospitals right now.

“There’s been no staff hurt. Control has been gained at the institution. We’re working through how we’re going to be operating from here going forward.”

The lockdown was first instituted in the medium-security unit at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, and then expanded to the maximum-security unit at 3:30 p.m. as a precautionary measure.

Visits to the prison in Prince Albert, Sask., were suspended.

“It’s still locked down,” Campbell said late Wednesday.

“It’s been the scene of a major disturbance, so as I say, we’re locked down in the interests, of course, of safety and security at the institution for the staff and inmates and the general public as well.”

He said to his knowledge, the involved prisoners had been confined to their cells.

“A lockdown takes place when there’s a clear and substantial danger to safety and security at an institution,” Campbell said. “Normal operations are suspended for the moment but they’re going to be resumed as soon as it’s considered safe to do that.”

He said he did not know whether any injuries had been sustained by either prisoners or guards during the incident.

Campbell said he did not know what had sparked the incident but Bloomfield said tensions at the prison had been building “for a short period of time. It escalated today, severely.”

He said the union’s critical incident stress management team had been deployed to Prince Albert to help the guards and other staff, and the union’s employee assistance program will also be made available to those affected.

The prison has been the scene of a number of escapes in recent years. This year, convicted murder Roger Joseph Gillet got out but was recaptured quickly.

In 2015, there were six escapes, though all were recaptured within a couple of weeks.